Friday, June 30, 2006
Batman versus Superman
From the lovely and talented Scipio at Absorbascon.
A Hero for Our Times
Thursday, June 29, 2006
The Hidden Crisis
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Medieval Dead
If you play Neverwinter Nights, allow me to recommend the module Medieval Dead, created by an old gaming buddy of mine. It's sort of George Romero meets Gary Gygax, an homage to various zombie movies and games. Very heavy on atmosphere, probably best played at night, alone, with the lights dimmed. I don't even particularly like zombie movies and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Labels: Neverwinter Nights
Stop the Voices!
Okay, let me be the official last person to complain about the latest WoW update, specifically making the LFG channel worldwide. First of all, if my little 10th level hunter is happily slaying murlocs in Elwynn Forest, do I really give a crap that some 47th level shaman a continent away in Mulgore is looking to put a group together? Second, the LFG channel was hard enough to monitor when it was limited by realm; now so many requests (not to mention random idiocy, such as today's spirited debate over, I kid you not, health care policy) scroll by, it's just a meaningless blur. Blizzard, stop the madness!
Labels: World of Warcraft
Monday, June 19, 2006
Some Restrictions May Apply
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Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Recent Comics I Have Read
52 #4: Continues to be interesting. I liked the focus on Rene Montoya and the Cult of Superboy is interesting for its echoes of Kingdom Come. Artwork is still spotty.
JSA #85: Okay, the lame Gentleman Ghost was actually moderately interesting this issue. I'm kinda interested in what he's up to. But how is Jay Garrick here as the Flash and tarted up in Joel Schumacher leatherwear over in the Outsiders?
Ultimate Extinction #5: Nice ending, but I would've liked it better if it had come out and been completed before the Evil Liberal Army invasion in Ultimates. Actually, if you take out the superhero angle, the whole concept of Gah-Lak-Tus was actually pretty good science fiction.
Ultimate Fantastic Four #30: Something's wrong with Johnny (again) and the Wes Craven Fantastic Four are up to something. Plus, where the heck did Ultimate Latveria come from? Last we saw Doom, he was slumming in Denmark. And why (on the cover at least) does he suddenly have normal legs?
Uncanny X-Men #473: Haven't read anything mutant-related in a long time, but I was intrigued by the Claremont name. Sure enough, this is vintage Claremont: absolutely impenetrable. And excessively "cosmic." And how many times has he done this "horsemen of the Apocalypse" bit?
JSA #85: Okay, the lame Gentleman Ghost was actually moderately interesting this issue. I'm kinda interested in what he's up to. But how is Jay Garrick here as the Flash and tarted up in Joel Schumacher leatherwear over in the Outsiders?
Ultimate Extinction #5: Nice ending, but I would've liked it better if it had come out and been completed before the Evil Liberal Army invasion in Ultimates. Actually, if you take out the superhero angle, the whole concept of Gah-Lak-Tus was actually pretty good science fiction.
Ultimate Fantastic Four #30: Something's wrong with Johnny (again) and the Wes Craven Fantastic Four are up to something. Plus, where the heck did Ultimate Latveria come from? Last we saw Doom, he was slumming in Denmark. And why (on the cover at least) does he suddenly have normal legs?
Uncanny X-Men #473: Haven't read anything mutant-related in a long time, but I was intrigued by the Claremont name. Sure enough, this is vintage Claremont: absolutely impenetrable. And excessively "cosmic." And how many times has he done this "horsemen of the Apocalypse" bit?
Sunday, June 04, 2006
How I Learned to Love World of Warcraft
Have been playing alot lately and I'm starting to actually get into it. All of my characters are on Cennarion Cirle--a 15th level human Rogue named Hale, a 15th level human Paladin named CrossTheSky (would've been Panther-Crossing-the-Sky, but they don't give you enough room!), a 10th level Night Elf Hunter named Aredhynn and a 5th level Dwarven Warrior named Dworthin. Hale was recently invited to join a guild, and that's opened up the opportunity of almost always being able to get a party together. If you see me online, give me a buzz.
Labels: World of Warcraft
Recent Comics I Have Read
52 #1, 2, & 3: Okay, I like these stories. I was prepared not to, but I actually like them. Booster Gold as a conniving self-promoter again is great, even though they ripped the concept of covering his costume with endorsement labels off "Mystery Men." Art is still shaky and I'm not sold on Luthor's media rehabilitation, but then if today's politics teaches us anything, it's to never underestimate what some people will believe. Also, the ripping people into shreds bit gets old. Fast.
Batman #653: Okay, we have pretty much one issue to get used to the idea of Harvey Dent as a normal-looking good guy before he goes insane again. I guess it's supposed to be all explained in 52, but this seemed way too abrupt. Artwork is very stiff and uninspiring.
Captain America #18: Arrgh! Another Bucky cameo! The agony! And why did we have to "de-age" Spitfire? Can't ANYONE from the Golden Age actually stay old? Doesn't that detract from Cap's uniqueness? Nice to see Union Jack and Cap together again.
Green Arrow #62: A sword? A samurai sword? Why? Good Lord in Heaven, why? And just how powerful is Deathstroke supposed to be? In Identity Crisis he was taking out half the League; now Green Arrow by himself can take him down with his tricky new ninja moves and some glue? A sword...good Lord and butter!
Iron Man #6: Yeah, really don't care for the Zircher/Hanna artwork. At all. Tony Stark is still an asshole. Someone is, apparently, controlling the armor. Why is Nick Fury there seeming like he's back in charge of SHIELD?
Ms. Marvel #3: Pretty good story. We still don't have any idea who Cru is, but that's okay. Life isn't always resolved in one story arc. Art is still hit or miss.
New Avengers #19: More of the mysterious Michael with powers leftover from House of M. Personally, I think it would've been better if he had been Michael Korvac, like Iron Man originally thought. I like the way SHIELD acts under Maria Hill, like a real spy agency would and not a goody-two-shoes operation as it often was under Nick Fury. I think I have decided my problem is not so much with Deodato's pencils as Joe Pimentel's inks. Seems...I dunno...sloppy? Unfocused?
Powers #18: Enough with Club Cinderella already! Deena has superpowers, Christian has superpowers--why? Why? Why?
Squadron Supreme #3: Ya know, I really don't mind when writers put their politics into their work. Really. If done right, it can be interesting and add to the story. But here, we get four solid pages of nothing but exposition by African superheroes who are otherwise completely unidentified and indistinguishable. Putting aside the bizarre, liberal conspiracy rant politics, was there no way to work that into the story other than through a four-page-long sermon? The entire plot just ground to a halt for this political science deus ex machina. Bad.
Batman #653: Okay, we have pretty much one issue to get used to the idea of Harvey Dent as a normal-looking good guy before he goes insane again. I guess it's supposed to be all explained in 52, but this seemed way too abrupt. Artwork is very stiff and uninspiring.
Captain America #18: Arrgh! Another Bucky cameo! The agony! And why did we have to "de-age" Spitfire? Can't ANYONE from the Golden Age actually stay old? Doesn't that detract from Cap's uniqueness? Nice to see Union Jack and Cap together again.
Green Arrow #62: A sword? A samurai sword? Why? Good Lord in Heaven, why? And just how powerful is Deathstroke supposed to be? In Identity Crisis he was taking out half the League; now Green Arrow by himself can take him down with his tricky new ninja moves and some glue? A sword...good Lord and butter!
Iron Man #6: Yeah, really don't care for the Zircher/Hanna artwork. At all. Tony Stark is still an asshole. Someone is, apparently, controlling the armor. Why is Nick Fury there seeming like he's back in charge of SHIELD?
Ms. Marvel #3: Pretty good story. We still don't have any idea who Cru is, but that's okay. Life isn't always resolved in one story arc. Art is still hit or miss.
New Avengers #19: More of the mysterious Michael with powers leftover from House of M. Personally, I think it would've been better if he had been Michael Korvac, like Iron Man originally thought. I like the way SHIELD acts under Maria Hill, like a real spy agency would and not a goody-two-shoes operation as it often was under Nick Fury. I think I have decided my problem is not so much with Deodato's pencils as Joe Pimentel's inks. Seems...I dunno...sloppy? Unfocused?
Powers #18: Enough with Club Cinderella already! Deena has superpowers, Christian has superpowers--why? Why? Why?
Squadron Supreme #3: Ya know, I really don't mind when writers put their politics into their work. Really. If done right, it can be interesting and add to the story. But here, we get four solid pages of nothing but exposition by African superheroes who are otherwise completely unidentified and indistinguishable. Putting aside the bizarre, liberal conspiracy rant politics, was there no way to work that into the story other than through a four-page-long sermon? The entire plot just ground to a halt for this political science deus ex machina. Bad.
